महासार Mahāsāra = strong, valuable, precious

Are you interested in meditation?

If you’ve always wondered about meditation but felt it was too difficult or out of your reach, you’ve come to the right place. Mahāsāra Meditation teaches a simple yet highly effective approach to meditation that is as powerful as it is direct.

What is it?

Mahāsāra Meditation harnesses the wisdom of the Tantric and Vedantic yogic traditions to enable you to attain deep states of inner peace and bliss. The instruction that Mahāsāra Meditation offers reaches beyond basic Mindfulness Meditation, where one is taught to passively observe the breath, thoughts, or other objects of perception. In Mahāsāra Meditation, we receive a mantra and learn how to gradually unite with it until we rest in our own innate awareness.

Is it the same as Vedic Meditation?

Mahāsāra Meditation is different from what has been popularized as Vedic Meditation. In Vedic Meditation, you are given a seed or bija mantra such as hreem, shreem, kleem, and taught to repeat it in a gentle and natural way. While meditating with bija mantras can be very effective, Mahāsāra Meditation takes a different approach. In our practice, we receive a longer five-syllable mantra that enables us to powerfully but naturally still the mind. In Mahāsāra Meditation we never wrestle or fight with our thoughts, nor do we practice any type of forceful concentration. Instead, we gently allow the mantra to guide the mind toward perfect quiescence.

Is it for me?

Mahāsāra Meditation is accessible to everyone. No prior studies, experience, or affiliation to any religion, philosophy, or lineage is necessary to learn how to meditate. Beginner meditators will learn how to practice from the “ground up.” Experienced meditators will benefit by receiving profound teachings that will allow them to refine, reorient, and deepen their practice.

Be the first to receive new blog articles, special offers, and news of my live teaching events. As a welcome gift, you’ll get a beautiful audio recording of the Guru Paduka Stotram, an ancient prayer that will melt your heart. You’ll also receive a PDF English translation of the original Sanskrit. Don’t miss listening to this special chant.

“To meditate is to shift from doing to being, since we let go of our involvement with our active body and mind. Meditation is the greatest act of love and compassion we can offer ourselves. Sages have called meditation the supreme worship, for we discover perfection within us.”

—Andres Pelenur

Benefits

The health benefits of meditation are well known. Studies from well-reputed universities and hospitals including Harvard, Stanford, and the Massachusetts General Hospital have confirmed the significant benefits that stem from the practice. Meditation reduces stress, pain, insomnia, anxiety, and depression while at the same time strengthening the immune and nervous systems. Meditation will allow you to sleep better and enhance your sense of joy. The studies also validate the cognitive benefits that meditation offers. Clarity of thought, sharper focus, and an increased amount of gray matter in the brain have all been documented.

Yet these physical and mental benefits represent only a small portion of the power of meditation. There is, of course, a profound spiritual dimension to the practice. Through Mahāsāra Meditation, you will learn how to make contact with and experience the bliss and peace of our own inner awareness, which is not a matter of wishful thinking or mere imagination. Although the words “bliss” and “peace” are used so often they have lost their meaning, you will be able to experience them in a tangible way when you bring Mahāsāra Meditation into your daily life.

Universal Philosophy

The practices taught in Mahāsāra Meditation are universal in their appeal since they focus on the innate awareness at the heart of your being, i.e., your I-feeling that lives with you from moment to moment. This awareness is both the seat of meditative power as well as its goal. In Tantric philosophy, the entire universe is seen as a reflection of consciousness contained within an endless expanse of pure awareness. This awareness, which is the source of the mind, is experienced as perfect peace and bliss when accessed through effective meditation. Through the practices taught in Mahāsāra Meditation, you will learn how to recognize and experience your own vibrant and blissful awareness—the great Self at the heart of your being.

How can I learn?

Step One: Sign up for a free one-hour Introduction Talk. Ask questions, meet the teacher, and deepen your understanding of Mahāsāra Meditation before you register for the course.

The Course

Step Two: Register for the course entitled The Essence of Meditation, taught over six hours of instruction. The course can be scheduled for 90-minutes a day over four days, three hours a day over a weekend, or during one full day depending on the students’ preference.

Follow Up

Step Three: After the course, you will have continued guidance and support at no charge. You can email Andres with questions at any time or participate in special events for course alumni.

“Some people believe their minds are too restless to meditate. They don’t appreciate the fact that the mind is as naturally inclined toward stillness as it is toward restlessness. When we teach the mind how to turn inward, it transforms the energy of restlessness into the energy of concentration, which yields deep bliss and contentment.”

—Andres Pelenur

The Teacher

Andres Pelenur has been meditating and studying yogic scriptures for over twenty years. He is the founder of the Mahāsāra School of Meditation and a disciple of the great saint Bhagawan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri (1897–1961). Andres received mantra dīkshā (initiation into mantra) from Gurumayi Chidvilasananda and received training in multiple yogic disciplines at her ashram in South Fallsburg, New York. He has traveled extensively throughout India, meditating in numerous ashrams including Bhagawan’s ashram in Kanhangad, Kerala, and in Ganeshpuri, Maharashtra. Andres holds a BA in English from McGill University and a JD from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law.

Now available: Andres Pelenur is the author of The Essence of Meditation: Advanced Practices for New and Experienced Meditators. Andres guides the reader through a careful examination of the subtleties of yoga that reaches far beyond the basics. He shares a simple and highly effective approach to meditation that draws generously from both Tantric and Vedantic traditions, unifying their strengths to enable both new and experienced meditators to develop an authentic and lasting awareness of the inner Self.